Neighbourhood:

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Word to the wise: Taxi drivers especially will always tell you that they do not have enough change and will use the opportunity to rip you off.

Foreigner prices

One unfortunate hangover from the communist era is the charging of 'foreigners prices'. Many museums, including the city’s best art museums, still subsidise low admission prices for Russians by selling tickets to foreigners that cost three times as much.

Some foreigners try to get around the rule by convincing Russian friends or acquaintances to buy their tickets for them, but museum workers can usually spot non-Russians a mile off and will send you back to buy a full-price ticket if they catch you. The same system also still applies at theatres where the prices can sometimes even be as much as ten times higher.

Cash versus cards

Cards:

By and large in Moscow you can pay for goods in a store, bar or restaurant with a bank card, but in small shops and cafes staff tend to be suspicious of foreign bank cards and will often refuse to process it and will ask you to pay with cash instead – especially if you are using American Express.

Cash:

It is not uncommon for sellers in stores to ask you for extra coins so that they can give you notes in return if the sum you need to pay is not a round number. In a similar vein they also do not like it when you pay for small sums with large denomination notes, so try to always have some coins and small notes with you for making small purchases.